Sean McVay On Injury Updates, Roger McCreary’s Progress & Integrating Situational Management Roles

Sean McVay On Injury Updates, Roger McCreary’s Progress & Integrating Situational Management Roles

Okay guys, um as far as the injury report is concerned, expect everybody to be ready to go. Um with the exception of Darius Williams, you know, he’ll be doubtful for the game. Um he’s done a great job being able to get some individual the lats, you know, bother him a little bit and um it’s more likely than not that he won’t be able to play. Um but you do have confidence in the guys that that we’re going to be able to ask to step up. Um if we do do that, you know, we’ll probably flex somebody up from our practice squad. I won’t get into who that would be for us. Um, you know, and then I think Roger McCreary’s done a great job, you know, quickly acclimating himself and he’ll be active for the game as well. Um, but Aubrey does such a great job with that room and Darius is in good spirits. I think he’s played really, really good football over the last couple weeks, really our corners as a whole. Um, and we’ll we’ll be excited about being able to welcome him back out on the grass. But if he’s not able to make it, which is what it’s looking like, um, you know, a lot of confidence in Dakota Durant to continue to play the way he has and Emanuel Forbes and then, uh, you know, a couple other guys if they’re asked to step up. Does the injury look like something that maybe would require an IR stay? It doesn’t. No, that’s what’s good about it, Sarah, is it looks like something that if he’s not able to make it, then I would expect next week um, you know, for him to be back ready to roll. Is it kind of a range of motion for him? You know, it’s what it is is it’s something kind of in your lat. It’s one of those weird spots where if you’re just sitting here talking to him and a lot of the movements, you don’t necessarily feel it. But some of the block destruction and some of the weird points that you can be in, you leave yourself susceptible to maybe further injuring that couple more days, you know, we’ll probably allow that to alleviate some of those concerns. And so, you know, I defer to to Reggie and our group. and it’s it’s just kind of an abnormal deal that you want to be more safe than sorry, but are we are hopeful that uh that he’ll be ready to go next week um if he’s not able to make it to Sunday, which is what it’s looking like for us. Is Roger Mccra ready to go? What’s it been like working with him? Yeah, he’s been awesome, Maria. He you know, it’s cool. You know, getting a chance to be around him. Certain guys tape talks to you. He always felt like he would be a good fit. Um you know, Aubrey had some familiarity with him from coaching him in the Senior Bowl when he was coming out of Auburn. We really liked his inside, outside flex. He’s mostly played slot for Tennessee. Um, but he is a stud. You know, he’s got a great demeanor about himself. Um, he’s got really good movement, short space quickness. He’s got good competitive toughness. Um, when you watch just the way he plays in contact situations and so he’s been a quick study. I think you still want to be smart of putting guys in successful situations. Um, you know, for what to be expected on such a short week and and how quickly he’s been here. But, um, we’re glad to be able to have him and, uh, you know, looking forward to continuing to build our relationship with him and his familiarity with both playing outside or inside for us. How has Puka looked? Puka’s looked good. You know, he’s feeling good. And I think what’s important, Gary, is his style of play. You want him to feel as good as possible just because of all the different things that we ask of him for his game to fully come to life. He’s done a great job working with our group, with Reggie and his, you know, group to be able to get himself back feeling good. had a little bit of soreness, but you know, that’s how he’s always feeling, but he looked really good in practice. Got two really good work days. Um, you know, he’ll get out there today and, you know, we’ll list him. I don’t even know. He’ll be a full participant. I don’t know if he was limited or not. I can’t keep up with all this stuff, but um he’ll be ready to roll and he’s looked good. How is uh how’s Rob look just after getting a by week to rest the ankle? It’s good. You know, it’s great to be able to have Rob back out there. Rob’s a he’s a fighter, man, and he battles and he’s got great experience. Um, you know, just his wisdom, his leadership, and and like I’ve mentioned, Nate, I I feel really good about what Warren McClennon has done. You know, just the maturity, the the play and and all that. I think that’s a tremendous credit to Warren, but also to Rob, and Rob has looked good. We’re glad to be able to have Rob back out there. And, uh, I think he’s feeling good as well. Sean, how have you watched it over time, including in building um the situational management uh position evolve and change from being special teams and analytically focused like maybe in separate buildings to now those guys since stretch really have been on the field with you guys during practice and and in the football side? You know, I think there’s, you know, the margins are so small and we’ve talked about this before, Jordan. I think and and I’ll be honest, there’s been some instances where I haven’t handled it well and you start saying, “Okay, where are the instances where you can improve as a head coach with some of your decision-m or the collaborative decision-m ultimately for our players and for our football team?” And, you know, you got to be able to lean into that. And I think, you know, we’ve done that, but I think really allocating somebody where that’s specifically their role and responsibility like it is for Smash Ball Force who does a great job. You know, there was other coaches on the staff that kind of had dual roles. Um, you know, but Streutz was really one of the first people to lean into it. And then when you look around the league every single week, you’re seeing these teams that handle it really well, that have an intricate understanding of clock management, you know, the importance of saving those timeouts, particularly in the second half. Um, you know, some of the fourth down decision- making. Those are the things where I think there’s a balance. You know, the clock management stuff is there’s pretty straightforward ways of what’s right and wrong. You know, you know how I feel. I think that analytics is really valuable, but it’s a tool. you know, there’s 22 moving parts. Uh, but ultimately it’s always about how do we move forward? How do we make sure that we’re self-aware enough to be able to learn from our mistakes. Um, and I think being able to allocate somebody that can be of assistance and helpful and making sure that um, you know, you can, you know, lean on people and be able to trust them to uh, to help make as good a decisions as possible for our group. It’s been a big deal. Have you noticed because teams across the league are now starting to get those guys more and more integrated on the field. Yeah. especially in practice settings as a natural part of the process. Um you guys started doing that a couple years ago as well. Have you noticed um it becomes a more natural part of the process to have that types of presence in not just siloed in another building a week? I I think what’s good is I think those people having an an intricate knowledge of how to be able to say, “All right, I understand like what’s good about both the guys that we’ve had with stretch and with smashes. you know, they have an ownership of the analytical approach, but also a tactical schematic approach of all right, how are we putting it all together that can help with u you know, facilitating sound decision making throughout the course of a game. So, the answer is yes. And I just think you’re seeing, you know, the the margins are so small um the efficiency at which you can gather information, but there still is a in-game decision making uh a critical thinking element and aspect of it that um you know, these guys are very beneficial for. And so, uh, if I make those bad decisions, you can blame Smash and not me then. Then I’m just kidding. But it’s been big. Um, that’s been a space that I think you’ve seen a lot of teams lean into. And, and, um, you know, every single Friday, and I know you know this, you know, we’re going through, you know, situational masters where, hey, what are the examples around the league where we can learn from if we would maybe do it differently or where is great illustrations of guys handling it well. And usually year in and year out when you’re showing the teams that consistently show up of doing it right, those are the teams that gives themselves a chance to play late into January and u you know potentially end of February. So it’s super important. Sean three Sean three years ago you guys uh claimed Baker Mayfield offers very um 48 hours he played in the game. What do you remember about that stretch and what you learned about him during that? What what makes you ask about that? You doing a story on that? See him in a couple weeks. Yeah. Oh, so you’re getting ahead, huh? you’re really I don’t even know when we play them. Well, you know what I remember is um how intentional he was and how smart he was to be able to quickly learn some of those different things. And you know, this guy is a mentally tough dude. Um you know, loves competing. He’s been through a lot of different experiences. And I think the coolest thing about him, whether you go back to Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Cleveland, Carolina, Tampa, here, he doesn’t change. Uh supremely secure in himself. Um, I’m really happy for all the success that he’s had, but I’d be lying to you if I said I was surprised. Um, he’s he’s an igniter and uh and you could just feel that there was something uh I was just super impressed, but I don’t want to say I was surprised. And you know, that was a unique thing. Those were challenging times and um you know, he did an excellent job, you know, in a short amount of time. I think it’s a real credit to how smart he is uh to be able to have the capacity to do some of the stuff that he was able to do on such short time. And I give Liam and Zach Robinson a ton of credit for the time that they really lean into him as well. And um you it was a fun month. Seemed like we got a lot of experiences in in a short amount of time and you know always wish him well and and appreciate the time because I think it was at a time that uh we both reflect on uh you know and and learned a lot and it was you know real growth for us both. He didn’t start that game. He played in the first series. At what point was that always the plan at what point? No. And I I think, you know, John had done a great job in the previous week, but he had also hurt his neck, you know, and so he’s going to try to push through it, but there was still some limitations in what he was able to do. Um, you know, and and and John handled it like a total stud, but it was more about, you know, just all right, you could kind of get a feel and and it certainly was probably a little bit early. Um, in all fairness to John, but there was just some limitations in terms of, you know, what my instincts said about what we might might need to do to be able to push the ball down the field. And and John could do that. that he just wasn’t able to do that with just some of the limitations with the neck injury that he sustained in the previous week. When did you real at what point did you realize Baker was capable of playing in that game? You know, I it was all such a blur, Sarah. But I mean, his first pass, you know, we ran kind of like a a three-level, you know, throw with a slot combination and just the feel that he had to put it where he did on Van Jefferson, you know, just um you just kind of out there playing and I think sometimes when you’re just totally and completely present, immersed in the moment, there’s a beautiful thing that can come of that. and uh you know you’re not necessarily overthinking things and I think you know the power of the mind is real and uh he did a great job that night. Sean Devonte Devonte said yesterday um after his performance in London he said to you with the bye-week coming up, hey, I wish we could just keep I could keep going. Yeah. Do you recall that conversation? What? Yeah. No, I was just say, you know, we were talking. He’s like, man, I don’t want to have a week off. I said, hey, just enjoy it. We got no control over that. enjoy your beautiful family and uh you know he was able to do that but I think sometimes you know when you feel like you got some good momentum going but expect him to be able to continue that momentum he’s had a great week um you know he and Matthew it’s it’s really cool just to watch that organically unfold where there’s a comfort in terms of their dialogue their discussion you’re talking about two great players continuously getting on the same page I think what was really cool about that week of you know what you guys all saw was the three touchdowns but what we all saw was the week of preparation the intentional ality. Um, we always talk about practice preparation and performance equal in game reality. And that was truly on display really from our group as a whole, but especially for some of the cool things that you witnessed cuz the other two completions that he had, it’s a great bench cut um, you know, that he and Matthew connected on when the weather was, you know, you couldn’t really appreciate it from the TV, but it started to rain again. you’re in the high fringe on a second and 10, you know, and then another play action that he hit um, you know, on kind of like a deep curl route on the inside edge of the numbers that was, you know, a big catch and he drew a bunch of PIs, too, you know, so he’s he’s been awesome and and I do recall that conversation, but here we are. This is all we can control and expect him to be able to have a good week. Uh, he’s had a great week so far and it’s a great challenge this week. Coach, if the if the defense was a Halloween movie, which one would it be? Oh man, you know, I think if they were a character, it’d be Michael Myers, you know, or Freddy Krueger because they would sc out of me if I had to play against him. Did you like Shawn Dolak’s Halloween costume? I loved it. No, Dolac. He looks more like Shoula than

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks about injury updates ahead of Sunday’s matchup, cornerback Roger McCreary’s progress in practice, and evolving coaching practices.

0:00 Sean McVay talks injury report
0:57 Darious Williams’ injury
1:45 Working with Roger McCreary
2:38 How Puka Nacua looks in practice
3:14 Rob Havenstein update
3:44 Evolving coaching strategies
5:22 Situational management
6:57 Baker Mayfield’s standout qualities
8:26 Recapping history with Mayfield
9:36 Building momentum after the bye
11:08 If the defense was a halloween movie..
11:23 Shaun Dolac’s halloween costume

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